Always Brothers
by gomababe
Summary: AU fic: Find out inside, starts off sweet enough, but wil darken in later chapters. Chapter 4 is up.
1. Default Chapter

**Full Metal Alchemist**

**Always Brothers**

**Prologue**

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the rights to Fullmetal Alchemist, Funimation do.

**Author's note:** This is my first FMA fic ever, so I am going to ask that you don't flame me for attempting this. The idea came to me late one night as I was musing over the episodes that I'd watched at my university's Anime Society. We haven't finished watching it yet, but I've already read on ahead and found out what happens at the end. This is an AU fic since I don't know what will happen at the end of the movie, though most of the flashback material in later chapters will be mostly in line with the anime. No spoilers yet since this is just the opening chapter. Please read and review, constructive criticism is very welcome as I am still working out my writing style.

A lone figure ran through the pouring rain towards the Central Head Office for the Armestris Military. Short, dark blond hair dripped rainwater into empathetic hazel eyes. The young man shivered as he wrapped his blue military jacket tighter around his upper body,

"Stupid rain, and stupid Mustang, why didn't he send a car this time?" the 18 year old muttered mutinously under his breath as he entered the huge building. Alphonse Elric, the Metal Ore Alchemist calmly nodded to the pretty dark haired receptionist as he made his way to his office on the third floor of the building, the rain water dripping from him creating mini puddles wherever he stepped. Alphonse took out his silver pocket watch, proof of his status as a State Alchemist, and opened it,

"Well, it looks like I'm early despite everything." He sighed as he closed the watch with a snap and pushed his fringe out of his eyes. A tall blonde woman, also in the standard blue uniform, practically marched towards the office door, only noticing Alphonse as she went to open the door,

"Ah, first Lieutenant Elric, it's nice to see you early as always." She spoke, her voice short and clipped. Alphonse stood to attention at once,

"Colonel Hawkeye." He replied in the same voice before relaxing and letting the colonel into her office. As he shut the door behind him he shot his superior officer a confused glance,

"Excuse me, Colonel Hawkeye," he asked in a small voice, "do you know why General Mustang requires us to attend this meeting? It is a regular meeting is it not?" Hawkeye looked up from her papers; her piercing ruby eyes meeting Alphonse's worried hazel ones. She sighed quietly,

"To be honest Al, I don't know why he wants us in particular to attend, but I believe it may be something to do with the resettlement of the Ishvar people back into their own land." She replied with a warm smile. Al smiled back at the thought of helping a band of people who were not widely accepted back into their own lands again. Little did he know the trouble that doing just such a thing would cause.

A young man dressed in a red robe with the Flamel Snake insignia imprinted on the back groaned as he came to. Messy blonde bangs hung just in front of liquid golden eyes while the rest of the long hair was tied back in a high ponytail Those same golden eyes stared at the white gloved hand that was pushing against the ground just in front of him. The young man struggled to a sitting position and inspected his surroundings. He appeared to be in the middle of a burned down house in the middle of the countryside, the dirt in front of him seemed to be stained with blood that would never wash out, no matter how hard it rained. Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist stared at his surroundings as if he couldn't believe where he was. A sudden whoop of joy startled the crows gathering in the trees around the house, a flurry of shining black feathers raining down on the golden haired young man as he jumped to his feet, a huge smile on his face. A breeze lifted the bangs away from his face as he breathed just one sentence,

"I've finally made it home."

Pinako Rockbell was standing in the kitchen of her roomy house preparing dinner for both herself and her granddaughter Winry, who was upstairs in her room working on a new kind of automail arm that was both stronger and lighter than the other artificial limbs she had created. She was infinitely grateful to Al, one of her oldest and truest friends, for discovering this new metal and extracting it from its ore just for her to work with. Winry sighed as she pushed her long blonde fringe out of her eyes for what seemed like the thousandth time since she began her work over three hours ago. Bright sky blue eyes were currently dark with concentration while she placed a screw near the wrist of the new limb. A sudden knock at the door broke her concentration, causing the pretty young woman to drop her screwdriver as she looked up with confusion.

"I'll get that." Her grandmother called as she set her spoon down and shuffled to the door. When Mrs Rockbell uttered a startled cry, Winry grabbed the nearest wrench, tied her jacket more tightly around her waist and rushed down the stairs to confront whoever had startled her grandmother completely intent on using the wrench to the best possible effect. She stopped suddenly, hand with the wrench stuck in mid-air as she came face to face with a person she had believed she would never see again after a three year absence. The young man at the door rubbed the back of his neck nervously with his hand, a smile on his face,

"Sorry to scare you Winry, but I kind of need a new arm." He said indicating his missing right arm. Winry dropped the wrench she had been carrying and leapt down the rest of the stairs, only to envelop her oldest friend in a tearful hug. Pinako cackled like she had never cackled before and lead the young man in to offer him some dinner and to let him explain what had happened during the years he had been missing.


	2. Always BrothersChapter 1

**Full Metal Alchemist**

**Always Brothers**

**Chapter 1**

Disclaimer: I do not own Full Metal Alchemist, Funimation do

Author's note :This chapter is a lot longer than the last, simply because of all the action and stuff, it's hard to describe in writing exactly what you can see in your head. Once again this is an AU fic just in case those people who are incredibly picky about these thing decide to flame me for it and once again no major spoilers for the series, this chapter is mostly action anyway.

The stifling heat and dry air were finally getting to Edward as he trudged from the last train station in Liore to Ishvar. The golden haired alchemist refused, however, to take off his characteristic red jacket, just because he felt a little hot under the collar, and that was definitely in more ways than one. After discovering his younger brother, Alphonse, had become a 'Dog of the Military' Edward wanted to have a little discussion with him that would most likely involve a shouting match, maybe including some alchemy, he hadn't decided yet. His original plan had been to go straight to Central, storm the young man's office and have the yelling competition there. But upon discovering that most of the Central Branch division had gone to Ishvar to help resettle the Ishvarites back into their own land he had been forced to travel by train to the mostly rebuilt city of Liore and walk to Ishvar from there. So now, Edward found himself in a predicament that involved walking halfway across a desert yet again.

"Al is really going to pay for this." He muttered, wiping the sweat from his forehead with a gloved hand. His golden bangs were sticking to his face, and every so often the sweat would run down a strand's length and drip onto his already soaking wet shirt. It had been three weeks since he'd arrived back in his own world once again and a week and a half of that was spent with Granny Pinako and Winry as they fixed up his new arm and had it fitted. Edward had forgotten just how painful re-attaching an automail limb could be, and he regretted it as soon as the new arm was locked into its socket. Ed shivered at the memory, his bright golden eyes looking slightly dazed, but they soon brightened up again as he flexed his right arm, thankful that it wasn't too heavy.

"Good old Granny and Winry, they've done a fantastic job." He smiled as he stopped to rest for a few moments, taking out a bottle of water from the inside pocket of his jacket. Whilst gulping down the refreshing liquid gratefully he took a look at his surroundings. There wasn't much to see; sand and sky were the only two real things he could make out. As he panned his vision, however, he could make out a column of smoke rising from behind a dune.

The scene around the new Ishvar settlement area was absolute chaos. Soldiers and officers ran to and from various tents with either paper or wounded, the battle scene itself was filled with shouts of orders and guns being fired by both sides. In one of the tents off to the left of all the noise General Mustang was briefing all the 'new' State Alchemists on their orders. Standing to his left was his best friend and aide, Colonel Riza Hawakeye and to his left, the bulky form of Major Armstrong was clearly visible, albeit without the characteristic bright, pink sparkles that seemed to follow him everywhere. The mood inside the tent was tense, as many of the State Alchemists questioned why they weren't allowed to use their talents as an offence. Alphonse was amongst them, staring straight ahead of him at nothing in particular. The young, dusky haired woman to his right elbowed him sharply as General Mustang began talking,

"You really should pay more attention, son." She hissed. Al just nodded,

"Y…yeah, gomen ne." he apologised. The young woman just shot him a friendly smile,

"It's alright, if its any consolation I'm new to this too. My name's Freya, I'm the Marina Alchemist." She stated, holding out her hand so that Al could shake it. The sandy haired young man took it gratefully,

"Alphonse Elric, the Metal Ore Alchemist." He replied with a genuine smile. Both Alchemists turned their attention to the now standing General Mustang, who cleared his throat quietly,

"Right then, since all of you are newly drafted State Alchemists, I have been given the delightful duty of giving you your orders concerning current situation." Everything went quiet as the people sitting in front of the dark haired, dark eyed General sat more to attention,

"I must warn each and every one of you that your alchemy will be viewed harshly by the Ishvar dissidents and they will not hesitate to kill you on sight. Therefore I must order all of you to use your alchemy _only _as a last resort defence and not as an offence against them. Do I make myself clear?" he barked,

"SIR!" the alchemists shouted back. General Mustang was pleased that the young men and women in front of him had at least been paying attention to him, even if some of them would blatantly ignore those orders. He signalled for Major Armstrong to come to the front. The great bulky man did so with a sombre expression, his usually bright and rather oddly cheerful disposition had completely vanished, along with the sparkles. The memories of the last Ishvar massacre still haunted him, but he stood his ground here as he was not about to let a bunch of cowardly dissidents destroy all that he had worked so hard to achieve.

"All those to the right from the centre shall accompany Major Armstrong to the battlefield to rescue the Ishvar people that have been caught in the cross fire, the rest of you report to the medical tents." General Mustang ordered. The Alchemists stood and saluted their superior officer before setting out to do as they were told. Freya smiled at Al warmly,

"I'll see you later then Alphonse." She stated as she marched off in the direction of the Medical tents. Al nodded as he followed the Major towards the battlefield, a shout from Colonel Hawkeye, however, made him look back,

"First lieutenant Elric, I am ordering you not to let yourself get killed out there. General Mustang asked me to relay those orders to you." She stated sharply. Al saluted her at once,

"Of course Colonel and can you tell the General 'Don't worry, like Major Armstrong is going to let that happen in the first place' and I quote. 'I would sooner lose the alchemical abilities that have been handed down throughout the generations of the Armstrong family, than let the youngest Elric brother get killed.' End quote." He said, a smirk playing across his features as he dropped his hand. Hawkeye grinned as she shuffled the papers she was carrying in her arms,

"Of course First Lieutenant." She stated as she turned smartly on her heel and marched back to the strategic ops tent. Al did the same as he continued following The Major and the rest of his team.

Edward Elric, the golden haired, angel son of Honenheim of Light and Trisha Elric stood in shock at the scene playing out before him. He had never thought something like this would disturb him so much as he had seem much worse in his quest for the philosophers stone. Maybe it was because he had never witnessed a battlefield first hand, or maybe it was the thought that his younger brother, Alphonse, was involved in it. Whatever the reason, the Fullmetal alchemist could only stare in horror at all the dead and dying from both sides lining the borders of the earthen version of Hell. Ed looked around frantically for his younger brother; even a glimpse of him would be enough to placate the rising anger, confusion and frustration bubbling up inside him.

"ARU!" he called out desperately, not caring if he was caught in the cross fire or not, all that mattered to Ed at that moment was that he find his brother safe and well alive somewhere in this hellhole. He only looked at the people surrounding him when a young Ishvarite male knocked him over. The young man whirled round suddenly at the contact, his crimson eyes wary, his rifle locked and ready to fire if the person he had bumped into was hostile. Upon seeing Ed, he snorted with disbelief,

"So they've got their children involved in their military now?" he shook his head, his dark brown hair shadowing his eyes, "It's a real shame, but if killing a shrimp like this is the only way they'll take notice…." He never had time to raise his rifle before a clap was heard and a very sharp object came very close to his neck, Edward was on the other end of it, eyes blazing with anger,

"Watch who you're calling a tiny grain of sand that isn't even detectable by an electron microscope." He growled dangerously, not all that eager to draw attention to himself when his main aim was finding Alphonse. The Ishvarite man backed off quickly, clearly frightened by the sudden appearance of the Halberd by alchemy.

"You're…you're a state alchemist aren't you?" he stuttered, raising his rifle to fire straight at Edward. Edward didn't have time to argue his case before the young man in front of him fired. Ed suddenly ducked down to the ground as the bullets went whizzing over the top of his head, his red jacket billowing as he did so. He suddenly jumped to his feet and began running towards the young man, hoping to get past him and find at least some recognisable member of the Armestris Military. He didn't have much luck; however, as he kept on running into more Ishvarites with guns than was comfortable. After running into the 20th group he finally gave up, clapped his hands together, creating the odd sound of flesh against metal, and placed them on the ground. As soon as Edward had placed his hands on the ground a stone barrier sprang up between the Ishvarite dissidents and him. The damage, however, had already been done. Though he had not been aware of it, his actions had placed all members of the Armestris military under an even greater threat, his younger brother included.


	3. Always Brothers Chapter 2

**Full Metal Alchemist**

**Always Brothers**

**Chapter 2**

Disclaimer: I do not own Full Metal Alchemist, Funimation do, though if I had my way there would more than likely be an extra 5 or 6 episodes after the movie as a sort of epilogue of the brothers' lives if you will

Author's note: This is a shorter chapter than the last one, but I had to leave the ending as it is or I would've kept writing all night, and that isn't any goo for my back. I hope you enjoy. Please remember to read and review, thank you.

Al calmly scanned the desert in front of him, looking for any signs of Ishvar civilians caught up in the fight between the Armestris military officers and the Ishvar dissidents. His hazel eyes finally landed on an elderly Ishvar female that was struggling to get away from the grip of one of the Armestris officers,

"Let me go!" she shrieked, her cloudy crimson eyes blazing with anger. The officer tried to calm the old woman down, but she seemed deaf to his words. Al ran over and indicated to the young man that he would take over. The red-haired young soldier relinquished his grip on the Ishvar citizen's arm and rushed off to help his comrades. Al gently knelt down next to the now shuddering old woman in front of him,

"Excuse me ma'am," he began, his voice soft so as not to startle her, "but you need to get out of here, it's dangerous." He pressed, hoping to get a more positive response from the old woman than the other soldier did. A frail, tanned face, weathered with many years of experience and cloudy red eyes peered up into Alphonse's gentle hazel gaze,

"I know its dangerous young man but why in Ishvar's name should I trust you?" she snapped. Al held his position and gaze, though he did look slightly disappointed in the old woman's response.

"Please, I know you mistrust my people but I am only trying to help. I don't want an elderly, and therefore innocent, person to get killed just because of a misunderstanding." The old woman, despite herself, felt more relaxed around this kind young man, who was now clearly trying to help. She slowly nodded as Al helped her stand up,

"Alright young man I will go with you." She conceded, "But any sign of hostility towards these people and I will walk straight onto that battlefield again." Al nodded warmly as he placed his jacket over the frail shoulders, and began to lead the elderly woman towards the hospital tents that were doubling as refuge for the frail and disabled civilians. A young Ishvar male watched them leave, his crimson red eyes burning with hatred.

Ed continued dodging the huge numbers of Ishvarites that seemed to come from absolutely nowhere, his golden eyes betraying his panic at the situation he found himself in,

"_I don't have time for this! Where the hell is Al?"_ He had discovered his alchemy usage was only making the young males surrounding him even more mad, but he didn't know how else to get himself out of the crisis he had gotten himself into. Just as he was about to clap his hands together to create a new circle, blue lightning from a different transmutation lanced around the group, causing the Ishvar dissidents to scatter just as rubble suddenly dropped from the sky. Ed spun around, his ponytail whipping around with him, accidentally hitting one of the fleeing Ishvarites, only to come face to face with a young male that was about 2 inches taller than he was. The newcomer's face broke into a frown as he looked at Edward's small frame,

"What the hell?" he muttered to himself, before addressing the older Elric, "Hey what's a kid like you doing in the middle of a battlefield if you aren't an Ishvarite?" he asked in a pompous tone. Ed could feel his anger rising, but managed to keep it in check. He glanced at the chain of the silver pocket watch hanging at the side of the young mans pocket,

"I'm not a kid thanks very much." He answered levelly, "I'm a State Alchemist like yourself." He said, bringing out his own watch as proof. The sandy haired young man in front of him glared at Ed,

"Well you're late!" he snapped, "All State Alchemists were supposed to report for duty over two days ago!" It was now Ed's turn to glare at the other state Alchemist in front of him, his golden eyes burning with rage,

"I was only informed of this mission two days ago." He growled dangerously, "I had been with my mechanic." He added as he noticed the blue clad alchemist in front of him stare at his automail hand. The chocolate-eyed man rolled his eyes at the explanation,

"Well I guess it's better late than never." He sighed, "I'm Christoph Toray, the Stalactite Alchemist." He said, offering a hand. Ed warily took it, not knowing how this young and relatively inexperienced Alchemist would react to hearing his name,

"Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist." He said, keeping a close eye on the young man's reaction. Christoph didn't seem to notice the title, but he did notice the surname,

"Elric huh? Any relation to the 1st lieutenant by any chance?" he asked cheerily. Ed frowned a little, Granny Pinako and Winry had made no mention of Rank when they told him that Al had joined the military. Christoph seemed to notice this as well as he mentioned the 1stlieutenant's name and title,

"You know, 1st lieutenant Alphonse Elric, the Metal Ore Alchemist." Christoph pressed in a condescending tone. At the mention of his younger brother's name Ed jumped up and placed his hands on Christoph's shoulders, causing the younger man to jump back a little at the sudden contact,

"You know Al?" he asked incredulously. Christoph could only nod in a bewildered fashion, not quite sure where this was leading, "I need you to take me to him!" Ed finished desperately, "I need to see him." Christoph shook his head,

"'Fraid not." He replied once he had regained some of his dignity, "orders were to take out the Ishvar dissidents, and that's exactly what I'm going to keep on doing." He brushed past Edward, who was gawking like a fish out of water, and didn't look back. Edward was vaguely aware of movement around him that seemed oddly rushed. As he shook his head to clear his mind he saw several dozen Ishvar women and children being forced into an abandoned building to his right. The children seemed scared but the men that were pushing them forward were trying to soothe them. Ed froze, not knowing exactly why the dissidents were taking women and children with them to such a rickety old building, but his gut instinct was telling him it wasn't for the greater good. His mind finally told him to get moving to the Armestris base camp to report this to a superior officer. He cast one last look at the group of children, worry apparent in his golden gaze as he rushed off towards a vague blob of fog in the distance to his left.

"_I have to report this to someone, those children are probably gonna get it."_


	4. Always Brothers Chapter 3

**Full Metal Alchemist**

**Always Brothers**

**Chapter 3**

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Full Metal Alchemist, Funimation do

Author's notes: Wow 5 reviews already… Ok so I expected 3 for definite, after all Lar-Lar you'r my best mate, nut I never expected to welcome 2 new reviewers. Thanks to both Kaori-desu and lelann37 for such glowing reviews, and as for finding out what happens when the brothers meet, well you just have to read the story don't you. This is one of the longest chapters I've ever written, almost 2,000 words. I hope you enjoy.

Al grimaced at the sight of the many badly wounded soldiers in and around the main camp, the gentle, caring young man had seen such things before, but it still chilled his stomach every time he saw the cruel reality of the world in which he lived. He lead the frail old Ishvar woman, who had called herself Abida, towards one of the medical tents. Abida stared warily at the thick fog that was permeating the air around the medical site, but allowed the sandy-haired State Alchemist to lead her into it. Al too was puzzled at the fog embankment, but soon figured out how it had appeared when Freya poked her head out of one of the tents,

"Oh, 1st lieutenant Elric, it's nice to see you again." She greeted with a smile, her soft, leaf green eyes sparkling. Al smiled back,

"Freya." He replied with a nod. "Do you know where the refugee tents are?" he asked, indicating the old Ishvar woman, who was currently scrutinising the Marina Alchemist with a hard stare. Freya shifted uncomfortably under the old woman's gaze but nodded as she pointed out the correct tent,

"It's the second one on the left." She said as she ducked back inside the tent she had come out of.

"Thank you Freya." Al called, "I'll see you later." He added as an afterthought. The dusky haired State Alchemist called a muffled reply back, but Al couldn't hear it properly over the moans of agony emanating form inside the tent. He sighed quietly as he lead Abida to the correct tent.

Ed felt as if his lungs were going to burst, he'd been running towards the base camp for the last 10 minutes after dodging more Ishvar dissidents, but he had finally made it amongst the relative safety of the tents. He wandered aimlessly around the camp, not knowing where he could find any superior officers to tell about the Ishvar women and children. His golden eyes looked dazed and unfocused as he remembered the looks on the children's face. He was so absorbed in his daydream that he didn't notice a faint line sketched into the sand at his feet until a young woman's voice shrieking at him to stop broke through to his conscious mind,

"Stop right there Mister!" Ed started at the sound of the vice and stopped, his left foot hovering just over the line drawn in the sand. A young dusky haired woman, not al that much older than Ed himself, early twenties at the most, stormed towards him out of the fog in front of him,

"You were just about to erase my circle." She explained, though still in a really pissed off tone. Ed looked down at the ground he was just about to step on, yelped and jumped back when he noticed the thin line traced into the sandy ground. He glared up, yes up, at the other alchemist, eyes blazing,

"Why the hell did you draw a circle there anyway!" he yelled spasmodically, the kind he usually reserved for those who dared to call him 'short'. Freya backed up a little startled by this strange outburst from the much shorter young man standing in front of her, but she stood her ground,

"Well, my superior officer asked me to hide the refugee and medical tents, and if you'd look a little closer, you'd see that it was producing the fog embankment you see in front of you." She answered sarcastically. Ed looked down at the circle more closely, and discovered the alchemical symbol for water just to the right of where he was going to place his foot. He flushed a little at not noticing it before, but he wasn't going to let this newbie know that,

"I actually did notice it, but I didn't see why it should be there, your lines are very faint." He noted, it was true though, if the line had been just that little bit bolder Ed might have noticed it and stopped to see why it was there. Freya flushed a little, moving her eyes to look down at the sand and muttered something inaudible. Ed folded his arms, a triumphant smirk crossing his face as he continued looking at his fellow alchemist until she looked up at him again,

"Can I ask why on earth you're here anyway? I don't remember seeing you earlier." She noted as she searched Ed's face for any clue as to who he could be. Ed relaxed a little, his bright golden eyes dulling a little,

"I'm looking for someone." He muttered loud enough for Freya to hear. Freya's green eyes also dulled a little at the sadness in Ed's voice,

"Can I ask who you're looking for?" she asked quietly, thinking that the blonde-haired young man in front of her was looking for one of the dead or seriously wounded soldiers. Ed looked up again at her voice and nodded slowly,

"I'm looking for my younger brother. If you're a State Alchemist, as I assume you are," Freya nodded, a serious expression on her face, "you'll know of him at the very least. His name is Alphonse Elric and I'm Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist." He stated, thinking mentioning his own name would help jog Al's memory if he had forgotten abut him after these three long years. He doubted Al had forgotten about him, but he could not be sure. Freya gave a startled gasp at the mention of Al, she had only just seen him go back into the refugee tent with another elderly Ishvar citizen, it seemed Al had a talent with calming the old folks down given the current situation they found themselves in. Freya eagerly grabbed Ed's right wrist and proceeded to drag him into the fog,

"I know him, we met just this morning." She babbled excitedly, "He should be about here somewhere." She muttered as she scanned around the tents, looking for Al's sandy blonde hair and stocky stature amongst the many other bodies milling around the area. Ed could do nothing more than allow himself to be dragged around the base camp by this strange woman. But he could not hide the excited yet pensive expression that crossed his features at the thought of finally seeing Al in a human body after trying for so long to regain what they had both lost.

Al excused himself from the company of the kind old gentleman he had helped out of the warzone, explaining that he had to go and help more of his people. The old gentleman had reluctantly agreed and bade Al best wishes as he left. Al could not help but smile, the talkative old man had brightened up his day despite all the carnage that had been going on around him at the time.

"Metal Ore!" a voice suddenly snapped, causing Al to turn and meet the hardened gaze of General Mustang. Al sprang to attention immediately,

"General Mustang!" he replied as greeting. Mustang indicated to the young man to 'stand at ease' after returning the salute. Al relaxed again, wondering what on earth the Flame alchemist wanted,

"You're doing a fantastic job out there Al, and to think you've actually got the old people to trust you." He chuckled. Al began to look slightly perplexed at the comment,

"Sir?" he asked in a confused tone, "The only reason the elderly Ishvars trust me is because I'm willing to help and give them the emotional support they need." He explained with a frown. Roy Mustang waved it off,

"That's what I meant Metal Ore." He explained, "Few other soldiers are willing to actually show these people they truly want to help." He added. Al, now comprehending what his superior officer had said, now smiled his hazel eyes brightening ever so slightly. Mustang now turned the conversation over to other things,

"The reason I stopped you Al, was to ask you if you wouldn't mind keeping an eye open for any strange activity in and around the base camp. There have been some rumours about a couple of dissidents sneaking in. I just want to make sure that nothing of the sort is actually occurring." Al nodded enthusiastically, glad to be doing something other than going out into the warzone. His heart ached every time he came across the dead from either side, his empathic nature being overloaded with the grief that emanated from both sides. He gave General Mustang a brief salute before turning around to begin his new assignment. He hadn't gone very far when someone ran straight into him. He staggered back a little at the force of the impact, shaking his head dizzily,

"Ow!" a now familiar voice groaned. Al looked down only to see Freya sitting sprawled on the ground, holding her aching head. He jumped to her aid at once,

"I'm sorry about that Freya, I should've watched where I was going." He apologised, offering a hand to her. Freya ardently shook her head as she looked up, ever so slightly dazed by the impact,

"Oh no I'm the one who should be sorry…" she began, but as she looked up to see who she had run into she stopped mid-sentence, "…Al?" she asked before regaining her senses and jumping up excitedly. Al gave Freya an extremely puzzled expression as he watched her rush over to a red lump lying on the ground just a couple of feet away.

"Come on, get up you lazy lump!" Freya muttered as she attempted to shake Ed awake, to no avail. She sat down next to him in a huff, before she had a bright idea,

OI SHORTY!" she yelled in his ear. The reaction was instantaneous and not even a second had passed before Ed's voice could be heard yelling,

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING A TINY GRAIN OF SALT TEN TIMES SMALLER THAN AN ANT!" Freya backed up, clearly frightened at the reaction. She looked to Al who was staring at Ed, disbelief written all over his face. While Ed calmed down again Al nervously called out to him,

"Nii-saan?" he asked in a small voice, still not believing that what he was seeing was real, that all this was just a dream. Ed immediately stopped spazzing at the sound of his younger brother's voice and slowly turned around so that the setting sun was now behind him. The bright rays of dying sunlight backlighting the Fullmetal Alchemist made him look like some sort of angel; his golden hair glittering. Ed froze for a moment; not quite believing what he was seeing either. Both brothers just stared at each other what seemed like an eternity before Ed's eyes filled up with tears as he ran towards his younger brother. Al did the same and it wasn't long before the Elric brothers were reunited in a tight hug that both had waited eight long years to share.


End file.
